Arm restraining device for infants



July 15, 1958 3, ow 2,843,118

ARM RESTRAINING DEVICE FOR INFANTS Filed Sept. 14, 1955 1NVENT0R: C HARL E5 A. PELOW ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent ice ARM RESTRAINING DEVICE FOR INFANTS Charles A. Pelow, Kenmore, N. Y.

Application September 14, 1955, Serial No. 534,199

2 Claims. (Cl. 128-133) This invention relates to restraining devices for infants for the purpose of restricting the movements of their arms.

Many prior art devices have been proposed for the general purpose of preventing or restraining infants from reaching their faces, and more particularly their mouths, and also other parts of their bodies with their hands to prevent scratching, finger-sucking, placing foreign objects in their mouths, and for other protective reasons. Many of these devices have been in the nature of harnesses and strap devices which are cumbersome to apply and which restrict the infants bodily movements beyond what is necessary to accomplish the desired restraints.

The present invention provides a relatively stiff cuff which extends upwardly slightly beyond the infants elbow to retard movement of the elbow joint to a degree suflicient to prevent the infant from moving its hand to its face and to other parts of its body. The cuff device of the present invention imposes the desired restraint on free movement of the infants hand without restricting its shoulder movement or the movement of any other part of its body excepting the elbow.

The device of the present invention is of extremely simple construction and may be formed in the main of plastic, cardboard, sized fabric, or any sheet material possessing a moderate degree of stiffness. In the preferred form the present invention provides a restraining cufi for infants which is generally of frusto-conical form with the larger end of a fixed diameter and adapted to extend about the region of the elbow of the infant and with the smaller end of a readily adjustable diameter and adapted to be secured about the wrist of the infant and fastened in a manner which prevents removal or shifting thereof. This latter securement may be effected by a simple tie device which is located so as to be relatively inaccessible to the infant and which adjusts the smaller end of the frusto-conical restraining cuff device to a fixed, non-elastic, diameter which positively locates and disposes the same without constricting the childs wrist.

A single embodiment of the principles of the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing and described in the following specification but it is to be understood that such embodiment is by way of example 2 ,843,118 Patented July 15, 1958 only and that the principles of the present invention are not limited thereto or otherwise than as defined in the appended claims.

The single figure of the drawing is a perspective view of one form of the restraining device of the present invention shown applied to an infants arm.

In the drawing, the numeral 10 designates a body of sheet material, preferably plastic or other water-proof material, of a moderate degree of stiffness. The sheet is bent or curled into generally cylindrical form and one end of such cylindrical form is permanently attached as by stitching indicated at 11 so that the upper end of the device as viewed in the drawing, is of a fixed predetermined diameter.

The lower edge of the device is provided with a tape 12 secured along such lower edge and terminating in ties 13 and 14 which may be tied in any position to establish the desired diameter of the lower end of the device. In such adjustable tying the lower portions of the overlapping edges of the body member 10 may overlap to a greater or less degree or may gape somewhat in the case of large diameter adjustment of the lower end of the device.

It will be noted that the upper fixed-diameter end of the device extends slightly beyond the elbow of the infant and the manner in which the device, in the position shown in the drawing, restricts bending of the infants elbow beyond a predetermined desired degree is believed to be obvious without further explanation.

I claim:

1. In a device for restraining arm movements of infants, a body member of flexible but self-sustaining sheet material and of a length greater than the length of a forearm of an infant, said body member being bent to generally frusto-conical form and permanently attached at its larger diameter end, the meeting edges being unsecured at the smaller diameter end and along the major portion of said meeting edges, and means for adjustably securing the meeting portions at said smaller diameter end to secure the same about an infants wrist.

2. In a device for restraining arm movements of infants, a body member of flexible sheet material of generally frusto-conical form fixed at one end to form an end opening of predetermined diameter and of a length greater than the length of a forearm of an infant, the meeting edges of said sheet material being unsecured at the other end of said generally frusto-conical form and along the major portion of said meeting edges, and means for adjustably securing the meeting portions at said other end to vary the taper of said frusto-conical form.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 653,761 Wilson July 17, 1900 1,452,998 Bowers Apr. 24, 1923 1,762,549 Fisher June 10, 1930 2,059,136 Moller Oct. 27, 1936 2,663,295 Lewandowski Dec. 22, 1953 

